Axis Bank appoints Malavika R Harita as additional independent director

MUMBAI: Axis Bank has appointed Malavika R Harita as an additional independent director for a four-year term, according to a regulatory filing with the BSE. The appointment, cleared by the board on December 18, will run until December 17, 2029. 

Harita brings over four decades of experience in marketing, communications and entrepreneurship. She founded and led Saatchi & Saatchi Focus in India as CEO for 25 years, overseeing a broad portfolio spanning B2B, B2C, employee engagement and healthcare brands. In 2018, she set up Brand Circle, a marketing and strategy consultancy.

She is a resident mentor at NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore, and actively mentors start-ups across profit and non-profit sectors. Harita also serves as chairperson of the Atal Innovation Mission at IIM Visakhapatnam, sits on the boards of governors of IIM Bangalore and IIM Visakhapatnam, and is on the governing council of Mount Carmel College. She is an independent director at Symphony. 

An alumna of IIM Bangalore, Harita holds a bachelor’s degree in physics, chemistry and mathematics from Bangalore University, along with postgraduate qualifications from Columbia Business School and MIT Sloan School of Management.